The present invention relates to manufacturing of electronic components, and more specifically to methods of determining reliability of electronic components. Connector wear in the IT industry is a major concern due to the exposure of the underlying layers to the environment that may cause corrosion. The exposure of the underlying layers is typically due to mechanical wear from excess cycles of plugging the connector into a receptacle, or can be associated with shock and vibration in connection with processes such as shipping. When qualifying connector wear, shock, vibration, and plugging are used to first “damage” the contacts, which are typically made of gold over nickel (or palladium and nickel) over copper. Once the wear processes have been completed, an evaluation of the exposed metals must be done via optical inspection and scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) analysis, which often requires destructive sectioning of the electronic component. New methods and apparatus are needed to detect excessive wear in electronic connectors that are more portable, less costly and time consuming, and do not require that the electronic component be destroyed.